The Seahawks will be down a starter on both sides of the ball for Sunday’s road game against the Panthers.
Safety Coby Bryant was ruled out on Friday due to the knee injury he suffered in the team’s win over the Rams in Week 17. Bryant has started all 15 games this season and has played in 39 consecutive games overall.
Ty Okada is expected to step into his starting role this weekend.
Left tackle Charles Cross is the offensive starter that the Seahawks will be missing on Sunday. Cross is going to miss his second straight game with a hamstring injury and Josh Jones will fill his spot on the offensive line.
No other Seahawks players have injury designations in Week 17.
Seahawks Clips
With the Lions losing on Christmas Day in Minnesota, the NFC playoff field is nearly set.
The NFC’s postseason qualifiers are the Seahawks, Bears, Eagles, Rams, 49ers, Packers, and the eventual winner of the NFC South.
It will be the Panthers or the Buccaneers winning that division, and hosting a wild-card game as the No. 4 seed against the No. 5 seed.
As to the rest of the seeding, it’s all TBD. Which gives the last two weekends some extra sizzle — possibly with the No. 1 seed coming down to the Week 18 game between the Seahawks and the 49ers.
Three NFC teams that didn’t make it last year are in for 2025: Bears, Seahawks, and 49ers. The number will increase to four if the Panthers take the NFC South from the Bucs, who have won it every year since 2021.
Bounced from the 2024 field are the Lions, Vikings, and Commanders. The failure of the Lions to make it is stunning; they were 15-2 last year. They’re 8-8 through sixteen games in 2025.
Seahawks linebacker Derick Hall was suspended for the team’s Week 17 game at Carolina after stepping on Rams offensive lineman Kevin Dotson last Thursday night. On Wednesday, coach Mike Macdonald was asked about Hall’s side of the story.
“His version was that he was getting rolled up on, and he tried to step over the guy,” Macdonald told reporters. “His heel landed on him, but his toe was on the ground when he made contact, so he was really surprised that it was going on.”
What went on was a suspension, which was upheld on appeal.
Here’s the play. Was it an accident? The NFL decided it wasn’t. And hearing officer Ramon Foster agreed. At the end of the day, that’s all that matters.
At a base salary of $1.578 million in 2025, the third year of his four-year rookie deal, Hall will lose $87,666 as a result of the suspension. He’ll be back for Week 18, in what could be a showdown for the No. 1 seed in the NFC.
Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold is on the verge of doing something unprecedented in NFL history: Leading his team to 13 wins in two consecutive seasons, and doing it while playing for two different teams.
Last year, Darnold led the Vikings to a 14-3 record. This year, Darnold and the Seahawks are 12-3, with two games to go in the season. One more win gives Darnold a unique accomplishment in the history of the league.
Just winning 13 games in back-to-back seasons is a rare feat for a quarterback: The only quarterbacks with consecutive 13-win seasons are Aaron Rodgers (from 2019 to 2021 with the Packers), Peyton Manning (2012-13 with the Broncos), Tom Brady (2010-11 and 2003-04 with the Patriots) and Brett Favre (1996-97 with the Packers).
Elite quarterbacks rarely change teams in the prime of their careers, so it’s not shocking that no one has ever won 13 games as a starting quarterback with different teams, two years in a row. Two years ago it would have been seen as a shock that Darnold was capable of such an accomplishment, but he has now established himself as one of the top quarterbacks in football, on two different teams.
The Broncos and Seahawks have already claimed playoff berths, but both teams still have plenty to play for in Week 17.
Denver can clinch the top seed in the AFC if they beat the Chiefs on Thursday night while the Chargers, Patriots, Jaguars, and Bills all lose their games. They can also claim the AFC West title with a win and a Chargers loss or tie against the Texans on Saturday. They also win the division with a tie and a Chargers loss.
The Seahawks have a trickier path to the No. 1 seed in the NFC. They need a win over the Panthers on Sunday along with a Rams loss and a tie between the Bears and 49ers. The NFC West will be theirs with a win and losses or ties by both the Rams and the 49ers. A Seahawks tie would be enough if both the Rams and 49ers lose their games.
Elsewhere in the AFC, the Jaguars will win the South with a win over the Colts and a Texans loss or tie while the Patriots will take the East with a win over the Jets and a Bills loss or tie against the Eagles. A Steelers win over the Browns or a Ravens loss to the Packers will make Pittsburgh the AFC North champs.
The Texans will clinch a playoff spot with a win or a Colts loss. The Packers are in a similar situation in the NFC as they’ll book a postseason spot with a win or a Lions loss to the Vikings on Christmas.
The Bears will be the NFC North champs with a win or a Packers loss while the Panthers will take the NFC South with a win and a Bucs loss or tie in Miami.
If the Packers, Texans, Panthers, and Steelers all clinch their playoff spots this week, all 14 playoff berths will be filled before the final week of the regular season.
The AFC and NFC rosters for the 2026 Pro Bowl Games were announced on Tuesday morning.
Votes from fans, coaches and players were used to select the teams. Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce led the fan vote and was named to his 11th Pro Bowl. Bills quarterback Josh Allen, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, Bears quarterback Caleb Williams, and Bears safety Kevin Byard were the other leaders in that vote, but Williams is not on the initial NFC roster.
Chargers tackle Joe Alt did make the AFC roster despite playing in only six games before being shut down with an ankle injury.
Three teams — the Jets, Saints and Vikings — have no Pro Bowlers. The Broncos, 49ers, Ravens, and Seahawks each had six players selected.
The Pro Bowl Games will be held in San Francisco on February
The full rosters appear below with starters indicated by an asterisk.
AFC
Quarterback: Josh Allen*, Buffalo Bills; Justin Herbert, Los Angeles Chargers; Drake Maye, New England Patriots
Running back: De’Von Achane, Miami Dolphins; James Cook, Buffalo Bills; Jonathan Taylor*, Indianapolis Colts
Fullback: Patrick Ricard*, Baltimore Ravens
Wide receiver: Ja’Marr Chase*, Cincinnati Bengals; Nico Collins*, Houston Texans; Zay Flowers, Baltimore Ravens; Courtland Sutton, Denver Broncos
Tight end: Brock Bowers, Las Vegas Raiders*; Travis Kelce, Kansas City Chiefs
Offensive tackle: Joe Alt*, Los Angeles Chargers; Garett Bolles*, Denver Broncos; Dion Dawkins, Buffalo Bills
Offensive guard: Quinn Meinerz*, Denver Broncos; Quenton Nelson*, Indianapolis Colts; Trey Smith, Kansas City Chiefs
Center: Creed Humphrey*, Kansas City Chiefs; Tyler Linderbaum, Baltimore Ravens
Defensive end: Will Anderson Jr.*, Houston Texans; Maxx Crosby, Las Vegas Raiders; Myles Garrett*, Cleveland Browns
Interior linemen: Zach Allen, Denver Broncos; Chris Jones*, Kansas City Chiefs; Jeffrey Simmons*, Tennessee Titans
Outside linebacker: Nik Bonitto*, Denver Broncos; Tuli Tuipulotu, Los Angeles Chargers; T.J. Watt*, Pittsburgh Steelers
Inside/middle linebacker: Azeez Al-Shaair, Houston Texans; Roquan Smith*, Baltimore Ravens
Cornerback: Christian Gonzalez, New England Patriots; Derek Stingley Jr.*, Houston Texans; Pat Surtain II*, Denver Broncos; Denzel Ward, Cleveland Browns
Free safety: Jalen Ramsey*, Pittsburgh Steelers
Strong safety: Kyle Hamilton*, Baltimore Ravens; Derwin James Jr., Los Angeles Chargers
Long-snapper: Ross Matiscik*, Jacksonville Jaguars
Punter: Jordan Stout*, Baltimore Ravens
Place-kicker: Cameron Dicker*, Los Angeles Chargers
Return specialist: Chimere Dike*, Tennessee Titans
Special-teamer: Ben Skowronek*, Pittsburgh
NFC
Quarterback: Matthew Stafford*, Los Angeles Rams; Sam Darnold, Seattle Seahawks; Dak Prescott, Dallas Cowboys
Running back: Jahmyr Gibbs*, Detroit Lions; Christian McCaffrey, San Francisco 49ers; Bijan Robinson, Atlanta Falcons
Fullback: Kyle Juszczyk*, San Francisco 49ers
Wide receiver: Puka Nacua*, Los Angeles Rams; Jaxon Smith-Njigba*, Seattle Seahawks; George Pickens, Dallas Cowboys; Amon-Ra St. Brown, Detroit Lions
Tight end: Trey McBride*, Arizona Cardinals; George Kittle, San Francisco 49ers
Offensive tackle: Penei Sewell*, Detroit Lions; Tristan Wirfs* Tampa Bay Buccaneers; Trent Williams, San Francisco 49ers
Offensive guard: Tyler Smith*, Dallas Cowboys; Joe Thuney*, Chicago Bears; Chris Lindstrom, Atlanta Falcons
Center: Drew Dalman*, Chicago Bears; Cam Jurgens, Philadelphia Eagles
Defensive end: Aidan Hutchinson*, Detroit Lions; Micah Parsons*, Green Bay Packers; DeMarcus Lawrence, Seattle Seahawks
Interior linemen: Jalen Carter*, Philadelphia Eagles; Leonard Williams*, Seattle Seahawks, Quinnen Williams, Dallas Cowboys
Outside linebacker: Brian Burns*, New York Giants, Jared Verse*, Los Angeles Rams; Byron Young, Los Angeles Rams
Inside/middle linebacker: Jack Campbell*, Detroit Lions; Zack Baun, Philadelphia Eagles
Cornerback: Jaycee Horn*, Carolina Panthers; Devon Witherspoon, Seattle Seahawks
Free safety: Kevin Byard III*, Chicago Bears; Antoine Winfield Jr., Tampa Bay Buccaneers
Strong safety: Budda Baker*, Arizona Cardinals
Long-snapper: Jon Weeks*, San Francisco 49ers
Punter: Tress Way*, Washington Commanders
Placekicker: Brandon Aubrey*, Dallas Cowboys
Return specialist: Rashid Shaheed*, Seattle Seahawks
Special-teamer: Luke Gifford*, San Francisco 49ers
On Thursday night, the Rams and Seahawks staged the best regular-season game of the season, especially given the playoff ramifications.
Prime Video has announced an audience of 15.36 million.
While that’s higher than the season-to-date average of 14.96 million, it feels multiple million viewers lower than the stakes and the in-game excitement should have generated. Two weeks earlier, a Cowboys-Lions Thursday night game attracted 19.39 million viewers in the same window.
The Week 16 game between the top two teams in the NFC had been circled for weeks. The winner seized the inside track to the No. 1 seed in the conference.
And the game itself delivered, in a big way. It went back and forth, with L.A.'s eventual16-point margin in the fourth quarter quickly disappearing, setting the stage for the first two-point conversion in NFL overtime history.
The final number underscores the impact of the teams on the size of an audience. For the franchises with the biggest followings (like the Cowboys), the numbers will generally be larger.
Still, the Rams-Seahawks game should have had a bigger audience. Especially since those who didn’t watch the game missed out on an incredible night of football.
Prime Video has one game left during the regular season: Broncos-Chiefs on Christmas night. And while the Broncos are vying for the top seed in the AFC, the Chiefs have instantly lost much of their luster, with Chris Oladukon now slated to start at quarterback for Kansas City. It will be interesting to see whether the captive audience of a holiday afternoon sticks around for a nightcap that could have the same impact on viewers as NyQuil.
The Seahawks officially will not have one of their key defenders when they play the Panthers on Sunday.
The NFL announced on Monday that linebacker Derick Hall’s one-game suspension has been upheld by Ramon Foster, one of the hearing officers jointly appointed and compensated by the NFL and NFLPA to decide appeals of on-field player discipline.
During Thursday’s eventual victory over the Rams, Hall unnecessarily stepped on the leg of Los Angeles guard Kevin Dotson at the end of a play while Dotson was on the ground. That was a violation of Rule 12, Section 2, Article 8, which prohibits unnecessary roughness and Rule 12, Section 3, Article 1, which applies to unsportsmanlike conduct, including “any act which is contrary to the generally understood principles of sportsmanship.”
Hall, 24, has recorded 29 total tackles with two for loss, 10 QB hits, and a sack in his 13 games with three starts so far this season.
Seattle took over the NFC’s No. 1 seed with the overtime victory over Los Angeles with two games to play.
Former NFL referee Walt Anderson now serves as the league’s primary (and only) spokesperson regarding the application of the rules. Every Sunday morning, he gets very limited real estate in a four-hour NFL Network pregame show to address any/all controversial calls from the week that was.
This week, there were several candidates. The league admitted to the Panthers that a fourth-quarter catch was incorrectly overturned by replay review. Chargers safety Tony Jefferson was ejected for an illegal helmet-to-helmet hit on Sunday against the Chiefs, but Bears defensive end Austin Booker was not ejected for an illegal helmet-to-helmet hit that knocked Packers quarterback Jordan Love out of the game. Why was one player sent to the showers when the other one wasn’t?
Sunday’s Walt Anderson cameo focused exclusively on the most unusual play from the past seven days: The two-point conversion from Thursday night, which tied Seahawks-Rams at 30. During his three-minute segment, Anderson explained the fairly obvious elements that anyone who would be watching NFL Network in the 9:00 a.m. ET hour on a Sunday already knew.
One key point was glossed over. If it was so obvious that Seahawks quarterback Sam Darnold had thrown a backward pass that pinballed into the end zone and remained live, why did it take more than 100 seconds to initiate the review?
There’s a story there. An interesting one. One they likely don’t want anyone to know. Who figured out that the play should be formally reviewed during the 100-second interval between the end of the play and the announcement of the review? Was it the replay official? Was it someone from the league office? Did someone from outside the bubble but with access to it flag an issue that otherwise would have gone unnoticed?
The teams were lined up for the kickoff. The game was about to proceed. The play that became a clear and obvious two-point conversion was not sufficiently clear and obvious to trigger an instant decision to review the play.
There’s another important point to make, based on something Anderson didn’t say. Two weeks ago, when he addressed the erroneous intentional grounding call from Broncos-Commanders, Anderson explained that the mistake isn’t currently subject to replay review — and he advocated for a change to the rule. Since then, it has been reported that potential 2026 expansions to the replay process include the question of whether an eligible receiver was outside the numbers when a ball is overthrown in his direction.
On Sunday, Anderson said nothing about a potential change to the backward pass rule. Which tends to confirm the notion that a change won’t be made, even though Rams coach Sean McVay has said he wants one.
Thursday night’s instant classic between the Seahawks and Rams included an unprecedented two-point conversion that replay review changed from an incomplete pass into a backward pass that was recovered in the end zone. The current rules were applied correctly. Eventually.
On Friday, Rams coach Sean McVay argued that the outcome is something that shouldn’t be in the game, adding that he believes there will be an effort to change the rule that fueled the play in the offseason.
Per a source with knowledge of the broader dynamics at play, a change to the backward pass rule is highly unlikely.
McVay’s comments were received by the powers-that-be on Park Avenue as a normal club/coach reaction after a painful loss. Ultimately, the Rams squandered a 16-point lead with 8:18 to play, with the Seahawks’ comeback sparked by a punt return for a touchdown that got special-teams coordinator Chase Blackburn fired.
The two-point play, which was called correctly (even if it took some time), was simply one piece of the collapsing Jenga tower. The Rams still had chances after that to win the game. Indeed, it’s possible the Seahawks would have won the game in regulation with a late field goal if the two-point conversion that tied the game at 30 had failed.
Regardless, the rule that allows a backward pass to be recovered and advanced by someone other than the person who threw the ball most likely won’t be changing. Despite McVay’s role on the Competition Committee, he’ll need to get unanimous support from the rule-suggesting body to make it a formal proposal to owners. And even though the Rams (or any other team) can propose the rule change directly to ownership, at least 24 teams would have to vote for the revision.
Here’s the biggest problem with changing the rule that distinguishes recovering and advancing a fumble from recovering and advancing a backward pass. What would the new rule be?
Would a backward pass be dead at the spot where it hits the ground? Would it be dead if it ends up bouncing past the line of scrimmage? Would a backward pass be permitted to be recovered and advanced only by the person who threw it?
The rule against recovering and advancing a fumble on fourth down, in the final two minutes, or on a try was put in place to prevent a Holy Roller “accidental” fumble when a team is presumed to be in desperation mode. A backward pass is a different thing entirely. Backward passes are always intentional, and a teammate recovering/advancing the ball has always been allowed under all circumstances, without fear of any sort of shenanigans.
Thursday night was a fluke. The backward pass bounced off a defender’s helmet. The ball was nearly intercepted. The Rams didn’t pick it up. The Seahawks did. It’s a very rare situation that isn’t capable of being manipulated at full speed by a team in a “gotta have it” moment, unlike an “accidental” fumble forward.
When changing rules, the league always worries about unintended consequences. Changing the rule that allows a backward pass to be recovered and advanced by any offensive player would undermine an important and potentially exciting device for gaining ground in critical moments of a game.
Especially when the easiest fix is for all defensive players to understand that, in any play from scrimmage, a loose ball should be immediately recovered.
